the life of a health nut

Monthly Archives: September 2013

When I told my boyfriend I was going to write an internet blog post about unplugging and disconnecting from social media he laughed. I guess the concept is a little funny, but with putting more effort into this blog recently it has crossed my mind about taking time out of everyday to make sure I relax my mind. It’s my nature to be always thinking about the next best thing, the next recipe, my next career, my next workout, what I’m doing next weekend, etc. This can stress me out and make me feel very anxious, and has made me realize I need to shut down my mind every night. Now, this has not actually happened yet but I am trying hard to make it into a routine.

Here are a list of my tips to disconnect for a little bit of each day:

Take a walk with a loved one or alone. I did this last night and it felt good on my eyes to not be staring at a screen and great emotionally to take time to connect with my loved one.

Practice yoga. I really enjoy yoga when doing it but lack motivation to go because I don’t feel like it is considered a workout, now I know this is naive and I should take more classes. I have one on the calendar for this weekend, I will let you know how it goes.

Spend time in a bath or hot tub. Ahhhhh I wish I had a hot tub! I would probably be in there all the time, but baths can be just as relaxing and it would really force me to put my phone away.

Make a to-do list of home projects you want to complete so that you feel like you are still getting something done while decreasing screen time.

If possible, turn off or silence your phone an hour before you go to bed to make sure that you can get a better night’s sleep.

It is difficult to disconnect and hard when there is so much good info/news/tips/friends all online at your fingertips but I really think it’s critical for our overall wellness. Here’s to trying to shut off just a tiny bit more!

Have you heard of Scavenger Dash? They have events all throughout the country yearlong. Check out this site to see if they are coming to your city. I highly recommend you try it!

Here is a quick run down from their website:

What is Scavenger Dash?

Scavenger Dash is a wildly fun urban adventure. Teams of two solve twelve clues, scavenge items, take photos, complete fun challenges and have a wild adventure…all while discovering the city in a whole different way. It’s an amazing race on a local level, where anyone can participate.

This was the second year in a row that I participated and again it was a blast! I was able to improve from last year in my time (by an hour) by learning better tactics. I think my favorite part about the whole experience is getting out in your town, interacting with random people on the street and really getting to see the good in people – they help you with challenges sometimes. This year my friend Joie joined me and it was great. Here are some pics we took along the way.

After finishing the scavenger dash

One of the challenge clues was to find this little guy down by the waterfront

Another challenge was to get a picture being handcuffed by security

Joie by one of the sculptures

Checking the time

Posing by street box art

This challenge was to find 4 strangers and do the “ta-da” pose

Overall, it was another fun-filled dash and I can’t wait to participate again next year. I also think it would be super rad to try it out in a city you are visiting. Have you ever done something like this?

I heard that this month is National Childhood Obesity Month when I was browsing online for nothing related to that topic but it sparked my interest. I did a little more research and found some interesting pieces of information.

President Barack Obama declared September 2013 as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, encouraging Americans to get involved in promoting healthy eating and physical activity for our kids nationwide.

Obesity affects millions of American children and teenagers, putting them at risk for serious health issues, such as diabetes, cancer, asthma, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Rates of childhood obesity—after exponentially increasing over the last three decades—are holding steady and even decreasing in some areas.

“During National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, let us build on this momentum and strengthen the trend toward healthier lifestyles and brighter futures for our Nation’s children,” The President said in a proclamation released August 30th, 2013.

Let’s Move! continues to extend a call to action to get everyone involved in overcoming this epidemic. The First Lady remains dedicated to working together to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.

“We all share in the responsibility of helping our Nation’s children enjoy longer, healthier lives,” said President Obama. “Together, we can give them the energy and confidence to learn, excel, and pursue their dreams.”

(me, about age 13)

Growing up as an overweight child has impacted my whole life, and I think that is why I am so passionate about health overall. I remember being called thunder thighs in middle school by a group of boys, I remember not being able to participate fully in PE class, or even worse – skipping it, I remember never liking what I saw in pictures, I remember eating candy bars and muffins for meals. That is just not a quality way to grow up. I don’t blame my parents but in a way I do feel they should have felt a little bit of responsibility. As a parent or guardian you need to put your child’s health in your own hands just like you would if they had a life threatening disease. Obesity kills. It is often a slow death, but in the end the choices a parent and their child make early on can impact the overall health of a little one.

I know there are many issues involved in a child being overweight or obese but if we as a country, city, town or community take steps to teach kids how to take small steps to be healthier everyone will benefit!

I eat pretty healthy and workout, I drink my gallon of water, don’t party too hard and always make my best efforts to be mentally, emotionally and physically well but not until this week did I realize the effect my life choices have on others who come into contact with me. Getting both of these messages made me smile from ear to ear and showed me how powerful I truly can be in motivating and inspiring people to take control of their health!

Last week I had a great week of workouts, so I wanted to document them to show off to the internet world!

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – BodyPump + CXWORX

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – BodyPump + CXWORX

Friday – Cycle

Saturday – Stairmaster (20 min) + free full body weights

Sunday – Cycle + Run 1 mile

For a grand total of FIVE HOURS! I have really been struggling for the past 4-6 weeks to hit anything over 3 hours/week in the gym when I have consistently been used to getting about 5-6 in for years so to be working my way back up there feels really great!

This week here is my plan:

Monday (today) – Rest

Tuesday – BodyPump + CXWORX

Wednesday – Cardio (probably 2 mile run & stairs)

Thursday – BodyPump + CXWORX

Friday – Cycle

Saturday – Run all over the city for a scavenger dash. I will be sure to update all of you about this after it happens. I participated last year and it was an absolute blast!

Sunday – Free weights + cardio

There it is, if all goes well I will hit more than 5 hours this week too! Ahhhh the things that get me excited. Another thing that gets me excited is new workout gear – check out this super cute top I bought from lulu (don’t mind the messy hair or bedroom).

While I always look forward to the gym, some days the choices fellow gym-goers make can really irritate me, almost to the point where I should be investing in yoga classes after my group fitness class just to bring my stress level back down to normal. I think the thing that bothers me the most is that some people just haven’t learned proper gym etiquette, which is fine – but when you are the only one slamming down your weights in between sets, it’s time to reevaluate what you are doing at the gym, buddy!

Here is a list of my biggest gym pet peeves from the last 10 years of being a gym rat:

Waiting for a workout class by standing outside of the group fitness room 5-20 minutes before the class starts. This, I just do not understand – if you are at the gym, shouldn’t you be doing something active while you are there?

As I eluded to above, throwing weights all over making very loud annoying noises. I know you are trying to lift heavy, and that is excellent, but you need to be controlling your movements – this is a gym now olympic weightlifting.

Space invaders. Group fitness classes can get pretty crowded but feeling sweat fly off of you is not really how I wanted to spend my dinner hour, so please look at your surroundings and be adaptable.

Grunting, oh the grunting! I don’t understand it. Again, I know you are lifting really heavy things, but this isn’t your own private gym – there are people around who don’t need to be bothered by your sexual sounds.

Those are some of my biggest gym pet peeves, others include: not putting weights/equipment back where it belongs, horrible instructors and bad facility lighting.